May Home Prices in Massachusetts Drove Buyers Away

I've written a few columns like this one this year with news about the high cost of home ownership in Massachusetts, but I think this is the first time I've had to lift my jaw off the keyboard to type the words.

The Massachusetts-based The Warren Group issues a monthly press release detailing single-family home and condominium sales for the month before. The Warren Group's website states, "We have been collecting, warehousing, and licensing real estate and transaction data since 1872." In other words, they know their stuff and are a reliable source of information.

The Warren Group has reported steadily rising prices and declining sales for months in Massachusetts.

Let's look at May 2022.

"There were 4,788 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 7.3 percent decrease from May 2021 when there were 5,165 transactions," The Warren Group reported. "The median single-family sales price increased 12.4 percent on a year-over-year basis to $590,000, up from $525,000 in May 2021 – a new all-time high for single-family homes since The Warren Group started tracking sales in 1987."

$590,000!

"It's truly indicative of current market conditions," said Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. "The balance between supply and demand has been way out of sync for some time, and this is the manifestation of that imbalance."

"Many buyers are setting their sights on markets further and further from major hubs – and even outside of Massachusetts," he said.

So far this year, there have been 18,371 single-family home sales in Massachusetts, a 10.1 percent decrease over the same period last year.

Condo sales were down 7.1 percent from May 2021, with a median sale price of $525,000 for May 2022.